At least one major Vancouver real estate firm believes that the election results mean that housing policy in the province will remain uncertain for the foreseeable future.

“The one thing you want the government to provide is certainty in policy,” said Dan Scarrow, vice-president of Macdonald Realty, which has almost 1,000 staff and agents throughout B.C. “This election result means that housing policy in the province will be up for negotiation between the three major parties.”

Dan ScarrowSupplied

Scarrow said many believe that government holds the solution to issues like affordable housing. He said the reality, however, is that governments’ power, particularly the power of provincial governments that do not control either immigration or interest rate policies, is limited because there are so many forces that impact the real estate market.

“People have already forgotten that when the 15-per-cent foreign buyer tax came in, it was a shock to the system,” he said. “At the time, even the most vocal critics of foreign investment in Vancouver acknowledged that this was a far bigger move than anyone could have anticipated. And now, less than a year later, it has had no discernible impact on demand.”

Scarrow points to examples all over the world of cities struggling with affordability. “The one commonality seems to be that governments are incapable of stopping demand. Draconian policies to restrict demand have been tried in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and many first-tier cities in China with limited to no effect. Vancouver can now be added to this list,” he said.

In fact, some argue that local governments often make things worse by artificially restricting supply. The 13th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2017, which ranked Vancouver as the world’s third-least affordable market, states: “The affordability of housing is overwhelmingly a function of just one thing: the extent to which governments place artificial restrictions on the supply of residential land.”

Scarrow said that affordable housing is a complex problem for which there is no easy solution. “Everyone’s definition of affordability is different,” he says. “So if no one’s defined the end goal, we just end up building a highway to nowhere.”

Ultimately, regardless of what policies are eventually introduced, the issue of affordability will likely remain. Says Scarrow: “I expect to see this as a major election issue in 2021. And 2025.”

This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of Macdonald Realty.